


Transmutation

by WyldeHeart



Category: My Babysitter's A Vampire
Genre: Blood, Death, Demons, Ethan Morgan - Freeform, Fire, Hell, No Romance, Pain, Transformation, demon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 14:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5294939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyldeHeart/pseuds/WyldeHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ethan manages to save Sarah and his friends from the effects of the Lucifractor, but in the process he ends up sacrificing himself. Benny does a spell to bring him back, seemingly unharmed. Even his soul remains intact. However, not all is as it seems, and the three friends are about to find out exactly what happens when you mess with the balance of life and death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sacrifices

Sometimes she wondered if he was brave or just suicidal. Sarah watched in horror as Ethan awkwardly tackled Stern, sending them both catapulting across the floor and away from the increasingly bright orb. There was no time to recoup as she shielded her eyes and the Lucifractor filled the room with light, blasting out energy that chilled her to her very core. It pulsed like a heartbeat, steady and powerful, before finally giving out and leaving Sarah drained and weak.

Her head ached and groaned after the assault, but she remained conscious. Gentle buzzing echoed in her ears, blocking out any sound and pulling her in to temporary shock. A few moments passed filled with that static, until finally she woke up to the situation and faint relief registered in her system.

 She was alive.

She opened her eyes and blinked rapidly in attempt to rid herself of the leftover dancing spots dancing in her vision. Slowly blurry, organic shapes formed objects, and she found herself staring at the shattered remains of the Lucifractor. Every drop of energy had faded away from the ball. Now it was nothing but a scattered pile of broken glass. It filled with an odd sense of triumph.

“E?”

Sarah was jolted back to reality at the sound of Benny’s voice, and her watery eyes searched the room before landing on him. Her mouth turned dry.

Stern was nowhere to be seen, much to her anger, but Ethan still lay sprawled across the floor. His hair was tousled from the reckless move and a few pieces of glass were caught in his shirt. Benny had crawled over to him, not paying any heed to the shards beneath his palms. All his attention was devoted to his friend. The room filled with silence.

Ethan wasn’t moving.

Sarah didn’t think about the fact that she had just been inches away from death. She didn’t let herself dwell on the fact that her skin had already started to heal from the Lucifractors explosion, nor did she pay any mind to Jesse’s stoic figure crouched off to the side. Even the faint scent of blood took the sidelines of her mind. Looking back she wouldn’t have even remembered moving across the room.

She placed two shaking fingers to his wrist. Nothing. A hand to his chest. Silence. There were tears streaming down her eyes as she raised a hand to his neck, mostly because she had forgotten to blink. Her focus trained on trying to find that steady beat that would tell her everything. Her breath hitched as she continued to wait for a heartbeat. Benny held his breath beside her.

Nothing happened.

She slowly moved her hand away from his neck, trying to hold back a whimper.

“Sarah?” Benny’s voice wavered. In his voice she could her fear. It was a question, but it was one she couldn’t answer.

“What a shame.” Jesse said, not even attempting to hide his sadistic glee, “He’s dead.” Anger bubbled in her stomach at his heartless words. If there had ever been any respect left for him, it had disappeared in that moment. “Don’t call me again. I won’t answer.”

He vanished. Part of her wanted him to get staked the moment he ran out the door. Another part, more raw and longing, wanted him to stay for comfort. It disgusted her that she had ever thought of him that way, but looking at Benny’s now crushed expression she knew this wasn’t something she could handle on her own.

They sat there, making no effort to move. She wasn’t sure if Benny could move. His expression was so broken, it was such a stark contrast to his usually smile that she found herself double-checking to be sure it was really him. The two continued to sit there, eyes trained on Ethan’s now lifeless form, letting the minutes pass like hours.

Surprisingly, Benny was the first to move. He shifted to his feet, stiff and robot, before starting to search around the room. Sarah could only watch with pity as his movements turned more frantic in his efforts to find whatever it was he was searching for. He continued to pace around the room before finally scooping up something she immediately recognized: his spell book. The worn leather pages had fallen from his bag in the commotion.

Benny practically tore the parchment as he searched each page before flipping to the next, muttering under his breath as a wet sheen began to build up in his eyes.

“Benny, what are you doing?” she murmured. His actions halted for a second before turning more frantic. His hands shakily tore through the brittle paper, continuing to whisper to himself under his breath.

“Benny.” She tried again.

“What?” he snapped harshly. She flinched at the almost insane tone of his voice.

“What are you doing?” she breathed.

He started to shake as he continued to rip through each page. “I’m fixing this!”

“You can’t-“

“Yes I can!” he screamed. His next words came out as whisper, "I can do a spell.”

She tried again, "You can't bring someone back to life, remember last time-"  
  
"There has to be something!" he shouted, the walls of the room magnifying his shattered tone. Sarah watched helplessly, silently praying that this was all just a bad dream and she'd wake up any second in her bed. She wanted to believe it wasn’t real. That she had lived, but her friend hadn’t died. For some reason she couldn’t help but feel as if it was all her fault.  
          
"I found something!" Benny burst out. Sarah's head snapped up and stared at him incredulously. He turned the book around with his hands still shaking slightly, exposing sharp, spidery cursive. The words  _Dare Vitae_ were scrawled across the top, and beneath it laid a long string of Latin. Her eyes met his, unknowingly filled with doubt. His gaze saddened slightly upon seeing her disbelief.  
          
"What does it mean?" she asked softly.  
          
_"Dare Vitae_? _”_ he asked, pausing to think to himself, “It means ‘to give life’,” a familiarly optimistic smile broke out on his lips,”This could save him!"

"Benny, it won't bring back his soul. Remember-"

“No, look,” he pointed to a small note scribbled to the side of the spell, “it says ‘mind, body, and soul. It brings him back. All of him.”

Sarah glanced towards Ethan's lifeless body, a pang of sorrow sweeping through her at the sight of his pale skin. She didn't need to touch him to know that it was freezing cold. She looked back at Benny. His green eyes were swelling with countless emotions, hope coupled by fear, shadowed by the overall longing for his best friend.

"We have to try Sarah," he pleaded. There was so much pain in his voice.

She knew it was wrong. They had learned a long time ago that it was dangerous to mess with life and death. This was different though. It wasn't some random girl's dog, it was a  _person_. And not just any person, it was Ethan. He may have been awkward and geeky, but he had helped her and so many other people, with no real reason to do so. As far as she could tell, his stunt had saved her life, but had taken his own in the process.

Going over all of this in her mind, all of her memories and recollections of him, she couldn't let those end. If there was any chance they could bring him back, no matter how slim, she wasn’t going to let it pass.

"Okay."

 It took a lot of preparation, mostly Benny checking and double checking that he was pronouncing everything correctly. Over the past year he had learned quite a bit, but he was by no means fluent. The amount of times he'd messed up a spell just because he said it wrong was overwhelming. Sarah tried not to let this add to the worry already gnawing away at her. They may only have one shot at this.  


"I think I'm ready." Benny finally looked up from the book. Enthusiasm and hope swelled in his dark green eyes as he laid the book in front of him. Sarah kept trying to tell herself that it would be okay, that Ethan would come back and everything would return to normal, but she couldn't escape the swarms of doubt that had settled over her mind.

It didn't help that Benny seemed to be hiding something. She just hoped it wasn't important.

"Let's do this." Sarah announced.

 Benny began to slowly chant the Latin written in scrawled cursive before him. Spending time on every word and slowly drawing it out in his efforts for perfection. After a few times of repeating the spell, he began to speed up, slowing increasing in speed and volume. The entire time her eyes remained glued on Ethan, whose condition had yet to change.

Then it happened.

It wasn't dramatic by any means, but to her it was the most amazing thing in the world. A small laugh of relief escaped her lips as she observed the movement of Ethan's chest, slowly taking in air.

Everything was going to be okay.

She didn’t notice Benny’s worried glances at the spell book still in his hands.  
  


 

Normally Ethan didn’t make “heat of the moment” decisions. Unfortunately, this was not a normal situation.

At the time his brain was still churning from the pressure of entering Stern’s mind, so he didn’t really take the time to think it through before clumsily pushing himself towards Stern at the last second. The orb in Stern’s wrinkled hands slipped from his grasp, pulsing with restrained energy.

Flying through the air, the world seemed to speed up and slow down all at once. He caught Stern’s cold gaze, furious and unprotected, before the man disappeared altogether. Ethan didn’t have time to process his vanishing act before being engulfed in energy.

The Lucifractor exploded. Bright light ripped through Ethan, companied by a fresh torrent of pain. Ice pressed against his skull and blotted out the faces of his friends. He faintly registered his face pressed up against cold cement before the world disappeared around him. Too tired to put up a fight, he calmly let himself be dragged away by sharp, burning claws.

At first he felt numb. There was no feeling, no sensation, his entire being felt empty and drained. There was no longer a floor beneath him, no light to reveal his surroundings, just him and a vast empty space. The anxiety he had learned to grow accustomed to had disappeared, leaving him relieved of all tension and fear. He’d never felt more at peace.

Lazily, mind undiluted and clear, he felt himself drift off into a sea of tranquility. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing existed. Ethan Morgan was a dream, fading in time.

And then everything changed.

He was on fire. He was burning. The world was raging pyre of blood, swallowing him whole and tearing apart his very being. Scarlet flames rose on all sides, wrapping around his thoughts, his memories, his soul, filling him with pain so agonizing he couldn’t possibly describe it. Fire filled his veins, flowed through his body like blood, spreading across his senses and sending each one into a frenzy.

It was at that moment that Ethan realized he hadn’t been breathing, there hadn’t been any need to. Now he found himself hungrily gulping down the tainted air that surrounded him.

 Long, snaking tendrils of flames twisted around his body and slithered across his skin. It charred his eyes and vaporized his insides, contorting itself as it worked its way to his very core. Tears leaked down his cheeks, red and acidic as the roaring inferno that enveloped him.

He wasn’t sure how long he remained like that. Drowning in agony as fire ripped him apart. For that time, seconds, hours, years, all he knew was the fire that surrounded him. All he saw was red.

Finally, he opened his eyes.

 

Light flood his vision, which he welcomed with overwhelming relief. The pain ebbed away until he was left with a dull ache, so weak in comparison he didn’t even fully acknowledge it. He lay there for a moment or two, panting as he breathed in fresh, undiluted air. His eyes began to focus and the world took on shapes and colors.

He found himself staring at faded, white paint. Warm light fell through a glass window to his right, framing a vivid blue sky. Blue was so much more beautiful than red.

The gentle glow started to burn his eyes and he found himself groaning as he turned on his side, burying his face in the soft, slightly damp cushion beneath his head. As he did so a sliver of pain fell down his spine and he held back a whimper. A few moments passed and his thoughts began to organize themselves.

Drips of memories returned to him, heavy and thick like syrup, and he strained himself to sort through them all. He had called Jesse, on a whim with nowhere else to go. They had found the Lucifractor, and somehow found themselves in a battle with Vice Principal Stern, who he was starting to doubt was really qualified for that position. And then he had died.

Somehow that realization didn’t hit as hard as it should have. Maybe it was because he was now alive. He was, wasn’t he? He was breathing and in the silence he could feel the ever quickening beat of his heart, but was it real? There was memories of him floating, of absolute peace and tranquility, something his heart ached at the thought of. And then there was the fire. A flash of red echoed in his mind and he quickly reigned in his thoughts.

Whatever had happened, he was alive now. And in Benny’s guest bedroom by the looks of it. He tensed at the memory of the last time he’d woken up in here.

Swallowing back his thoughts, he managed to push himself into a sitting position, which proved rather difficult with the ghost of fire still pulling on his body. Despite the fading burn of flames and the fact that he had just died, he felt oddly energized, almost to a disturbing degree.

He cleared his mind once again and laid his feet on the soft, carpet floor. He’d worry about that later.

Then as if a switch had been flicked in his brain, everything snapped into focus. Too focused. He staggered as his senses were attacked by all sorts of sights and sounds that he’d never noticed before. The echoing strain of the wall’s pipes, a dusty and faint herb filled scent that he had always subconsciously associated with Benny’s home, and the almost painfully bright light still bleeding through the glass behind him.

He took another breath—he could’ve sworn he recognized some of those herbs form his mother’s cooking attempts; lavender and something called Italian thyme—before regaining his balance and shambling towards the door. Its hinges roared as he carefully turned the doorknob and slipped into the hallway. He was relieved to find the hallway was much darker.

He stopped as the sound of breathing met his ears. A floorboard creaked beneath him and he realized the sound was coming from downstairs, where somebody was moving around the kitchen. He let out a soft sigh before darting through the next door.

His head throbbed once more and he gasped, but felt thankful for how small it was in comparison to his earlier pain.

For a moment he found himself wondering if it had all been a dream. The thought sent chills down his spine. Perhaps it had just been some strange fantasy created by his mind, he did tend to have an overactive imagination and if his visions proved anything it was also quite vivid. This he doubted, though. He could still feel the burn of fire in his veins, turning his blood to crimson lava.

These thoughts disappeared the moment he saw his reflection.

Snaking their way up and down his pale arms were a multitude of long, black tendrils. They stained his skin like smoke, appearing to be some sort of otherworldly tattoos. Ones that most certainly did not belong on his skin, which now looked almost sickly in comparison to the shadowy designs. The room spun as he began to recognize their shape. Visions of taunting, red flames danced across his vision, their shadows mirrored on his arms.

He was too enraptured by his pale reflection to notice the approaching footsteps.

“Ethan?” a familiar voice whispered. His eyes flickered to the doorway and were greeted by Benny, dressed in a green striped t-shirt and baggy jeans. A wispy smile fell across Ethan’s lips at the sight of his friend and Benny grinned in response.

Benny’s expression chased away any lasting doubt. He had died. It was written on his friend’s face as clear as day, and Ethan was left wondering just exactly how he had come back in the first place. Millions of questions stung his lips but never managed to escape. The two just stared at one another, whether it was with joy or shock he wasn’t quite sure, but he found himself enjoying it none the less.

It was at this moment Benny noticed the marks.  



	2. Awake

Used textbooks and crumpled papers littered the old desk where Sarah sat scribbling frantically on what would now be the third page of her history essay. Lately it seemed she rarely found time to do schoolwork. With all the chaos that went on in her life it was hard to set aside an hour or two for so much as a page of geometry.

Her grades had been on the borders of failing and passing for months now, and even though Erica constantly reminded her that it didn't matter—because according to her vampires didn't need to worry about mundane things like high school—she refused to just give up on her life because of a curse she never wanted. 

Ever since the Lucifractor incident three days it had been surprisingly tranquil. No supernatural afflictions threatened their lives, and for the most part everything had returned to normal. Well, as normal as you can get in a town like Whitechapel.

The news had made up some weird story to explain away the incident, claiming it was a sort of small earthquake. The citizens of Whitechapel remained completely ignorant of the creatures that lurked in the shadows of their town.

The only real difference between their life before and their life now was: Ethan wasn't there to see it.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t expected it. When you die and come back to life you're going to be a bit exhausted. But it had been three days and Ethan hadn't so much as moved a finger. After Benny had completed the spell they had sat there waiting for hours hoping that he would wake up. Finally they ended up bringing him back to Benny's grandmother's house.

Despite herself she couldn't stop worrying that the spell had failed, and any moment she would get a phone call that Ethan was dead. 

Of course the universe decided to let her cellphone ring at that moment. With her thoughts distracted she didn’t even hesitate before scooping up the device and pressing “talk”, barely registering Benny’s name on the screen

"Sarah! Thank god, I was worried you wouldn't pick up!" Benny’s voice ripped through her speakers. She had to check to make sure she hadn’t accidently pressed speaker phone

"What happened?" she final managed to ask, mentally crossing her fingers.

"Ethan woke up!" He said.

"Seriously! Is he okay?" She jumped out of her seat, sending papers catapulting to the floor. So much for getting work done.

"Well..." he trailed off, as if trying to make the situation even more dramatic.

"Well?" Sarah's shoulder's tensed. 

"I think he got, like, death tattoos or something." Benny awkwardly announced. She could tell he knew full well that what he was saying made no sense.

"Death tattoos?" she sputtered.

"When he woke up he had these, um, marks on his arms. But listen,"

"What do you mean by marks?" she asked again, questioning herself on why she wasn't just hanging up and driving over there right now.

"They're like black swirls.”

She sighed, dragging it out to express how truly confused she was.

“There’s something else though.” He blurted, changing the subject.

"What else is wrong?" she questioned irritatingly.

"I think he remembers." 

"Remembers?” she glanced down at a broken pen lying near her feet, ink seeping into the carpet floor, “You mean dying?"

"No." he paused and she could hear him take in a deep breath.

"Being dead."

 

Sarah wasn't exactly sure what she expected Ethan to look like, after all he had been completely unresponsive for over three days.

Bringing her knuckles down on the wooden front door, she impatiently waited for a response. If it weren't for her curse she would've simply barged through the front doors. Unfortunately as a vampire she had to gain permission before entering a house, something she would never understand.

The sound of scuffling followed by a loud thump and a series of muttered curse words emanated from the other side of the wood before it creaked open, revealing a happy but oddly uneasy brunette. His hair was slightly messy since she had last seen him the other day, and dark circles lay under his red-tinged eyes, but his expression revealed triumph at the return of his best friend. 

"What brings you here on this fine day, my fanged friend?" Benny quipped, grinning with the same familiar pep as always. Sarah resisted the urge slap him for yet another idiotic comment.  
         
"Let me in." she sighed, not even bothering to hide her vexation.  
  
"Fine. Since you asked so nicely." He muttered with feigned offense, although the smile never left his face. He swung the door open for her, and waltzed away towards the dining room where they usually met.

Relief flooded her system as she observed the person sitting at the end of the table stirring around a bowl of tomato soup with a bored expression. When she stepped into the doorway his dark brown eyes flicked up to meet hers. A slight smile tugged at each of their lips, perhaps a bit more so on Sarah’s.

He looked relatively healthy and vital, oddly enough, although his skin was eerily pale and he had lost some weight while he'd been asleep. He was wrapped in a thick black hoodie, and she faintly wondered if he was cold. The only other difference she could pinpoint, one she’d rather overlook, was a certain uncanny gleam in his eyes, as if a part of him was still clinging on to death. She tried to suppress a shiver and moved to seat herself across the table from him.

Benny had already taken up residence in a chair halfway across the table, the only sound echoing in the house now was the steady tapping of his sneakers on the polished wood flooring. An awkward silence settled over the three of them as they looked at one another in quiet uncertainty.

"So," Benny shattered the hushed silence, awkwardly shifting in his chair, "um, how was death?"

"Benny!" Sarah glared at him shocked. Ethan stayed silent. His eyes dazed for a moment as if remembering some event, before snapping back to reality.

Sarah searched for a way to change the subject, and came across the realization that Ethan hadn't eaten any of the soup sitting in front of him. The last time he'd eaten had been just before they'd confronted Stern, "Aren't you hungry?"

"Not really." Ethan murmured quietly.

Hearing his voice for the first time in so long caused concern to bubble inside of her, accompanied by anxiety. She was starting to understand more of what Benny had mentioned in their earlier phone call. Something was wrong.

"Hey, show her the tattoos!" Benny shouted. He leaned forward on the table eagerly, trying to hide his own nervousness (and failing). Ethan gave out a long sigh.

"I don't think they're tattoos." he spoke slowly as his fingers pulled back the cuffs of his hoodie. His arms seemed even paler in contrast with the odd black shapes that decorated them. Sarah's eyes widened slightly, admittedly she hadn't really thought Benny was serious about his arms being covered in markings. This only furthered her worry.

Benny crossed his arms, "Then what are they?"

"I think they're burns." Ethan choked. His gaze traced the path of the thick black swirls anxiously.

Now that he mentioned it they did sort of resembled the flames of a fire. More chills threatened her spine as she noted the hidden terror that concealed itself in his gaze. The same sort of vacant look from earlier seemed to take hold of him for a few seconds, a look of remembrance.

Benny continued to put on a mask of humble ignorance, most likely on Ethan’s behalf more than his own. Sarah couldn't help but wonder what exactly that spell had done to Ethan, aside from giving him a second chance at life.

"How would you get burns? You were lying in a bed for three days.” Benny chuckled, pushing the bowl of soup towards his friend in a hinting gesture, “Plus, I'm positive those weren't there a couple hours ago."

Ethan just pulled down his sleeve and pretended not to notice, "When I was,” he paused as he searched for the right word, “asleep, I remember being on fire. I felt like it was going inside of me.” His voice trailed off before he noticed their worried expressions, "But it was probably just a dream!"

She spared Benny a glance as they both noticed Ethan’s arms shaking, and she doubted it was from the cold. His muscles were tense and on edge, betraying the fact that there was more to his story than he gave away. She didn’t dare pressure him in to repeating it. Part of her felt as if she had participated in something awful, and no matter how hard she tried the feeling refused to leave. A chilling thought erupted in her brain, but she quickly dismissed it.

A soft buzz and familiar ring tone came from her bag. Sarah jumped slightly as she realized she had forgotten to tell her parents where she was headed, no doubt they were worried.

She begun to reach for her cellphone before pausing at the sound of a faint whimper. She swiveled her eyes back to Ethan. His hands were shakily held over his ears as if attempting to block out a loud noise.

"Is that loud?” Benny asked gingerly. The tone of his voice was tender like someone speaking to a small child.

At this remark a sort of recognition seemed to flash in Ethan's eyes. He quickly removed his hands and stuffed them into the pockets of his dark hoodie. Every time the phone vibrated he flinched slightly. She glanced back at her phone. It was her mother.

"Are you going to answer it?" Ethan stammered. Sarah gave him another worried glance before clicking decline.

There was another bout of awkward silence as they stared at one another, "Well that was interesting." Benny said. Ethan remained quiet, now shakily staring at his hands like they were the most fascinating thing in the world.

Again, Sarah was struck with the feeling that she had done something terribly wrong. They way he’d described the fire earlier, his voice barely a whisper yet filled with emotion, struck a chord in her mind that screamed “not right”. She spared another glance at his arms, the markings before now covered up by black sleeves. Ink like that didn’t just appear overnight.

She pushed away the thoughts, focusing instead on trying to get back to normal. Right now Ethan seemed way too on edge for her liking.

"How about we watch a movie? I have to call my mom really quick and tell her I wasn't kidnapped," she said, glancing at the two boys, "but then we should be able to do something. I still haven't gotten any news from Erica and Rory."

Ethan seemed to perk up at the mention of the two vampires, "Wait, what happened to Erica and Rory?"

"We're not sure.” Sarah explained, “After the whole incident with Stern and the Lucifractor, all of the vampires in Whitechapel seemed to have disappeared. Even the council, which I'm kind of glad about. I think they ran away after finding out about what the Lucifractor could do. I'm waiting on a text or something from Erica, but so far no luck."

Benny nodded in agreement but didn’t add anything else, instead focusing on the untouched bowl of soup still lying in front of Ethan. Sighing, she pushed back the chair and got onto her feet, brushing off stray crumbs that had fallen onto her lap from the messy table. "I'll be right back, you guys can find a movie."

As she exited the room she heard Benny push up his chair and head towards the kitchen for "corn popping time", which gained a slight chuckle from Ethan.

She tried to reassure herself that everything was okay. Death was bound to have a few effects. It would be strange if Ethan wasn’t tense and jittery. Sarah continued to tell herself this as she stepped outside and opened up her phone.

It had taken a bit of convincing on her part before her mother finally allowed her to stay, much to Sarah's relief. Usually she at least had the mind to notify her mom before she left the house. She had just been so caught up with all of the new information it had faded from her thoughts.

When she stepped back into the house she was relieved to see Benny and Ethan curled up on the living room sofa, a bowl of popcorn perched on the coffee table in front of them. Ethan was flicking through channels with the gray remote clasped in his hands. Some of the color seemed to have returned to his skin, and his hands were significantly more stable than before. Maybe she had been overreacting.

"So did you guys pick a movie, or can I make a suggestion?" The two boy's eyes flicked over towards her almost unanimously. 

Benny's grinned as he popped another piece of buttered popcorn into his mouth, a large dent already starting to form in the mound. "Actually, I have no idea. Just please don't say Dusk." 

"As if. I was thinking that new horror movie that came out last week." Sarah sat herself down in a comfy blue armchair.

"Sounds good to me." Benny turned to look at his friend. "Ethan?"

"Sure."

 

Ethan tried not to dwell on the fact that, despite her being outside on the porch with the door closed tight, he could hear every word exchanged between Sarah and her mother on her cellphone.

He ignored how even though he hadn’t eaten in days, he just couldn’t bring himself to choke down so much as a spoonful of soup.

Most importantly, he tried to distract himself from the agonizing headache that was beginning to develop beneath his skull. The kind that ripped away at your mind and left you feeling raw and empty.

It was becoming increasingly more difficult.

No matter how hard he attempted to focus on the cheesy horror movie on the T.V. in front of him, the screen seemed just a little too bright, and the colors a mite too vivid. It didn't help that Benny had the speakers turned up near max volume. His ears practically burned at the vibrations, but he couldn't bring himself to ask Benny to turn it down. Not after the incident with Sarah's phone.

No, he tried to tell himself, you're just confused from being out of it for so long. All you need is a good night's sleep and you'll be back to your old self. Nothing is wrong. Nothing is wrong. Nothing is—

"Ethan?" Sarah's solicitous voice broke through his thoughts. "Is something wrong?"

It occurred to him that he must have been zoning out again. He really needed to stop doing that. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache."

"Oh,” he could tell by her voice she knew it was more than that, “you want me to get some Advil or something?"

"No, it's fine." By now a question had begun to work its way into his mind, “Where do my parents think I’ve been?"

"Already ten steps ahead of you my friend! They think we’re having a sleepover." Benny's attention slipped away from the television, where a girl was checking the hallway for 'strange noises'. Honestly, Ethan was pretty sure he didn't even need to watch the move to know what was going to happen.

"For three days?" Ethan's voice cracked.

The corner of Benny's mouth twitched into a nervous grin. "Yeah, well, I might have added a little magic in there too. Don't worry about it." 

Ethan gave him a soft grin, "I am definitely worrying about it. They better not be turning into cats when I get home." Benny chuckled in response. Ethan felt almost proud of himself for his acting skills. At this point it felt as if every word he spoke increased his headache tenfold. He really needed a nap.

"You guys are hilarious." Sarah said sarcastically, but her smile showed how happy she was at the returning sense of normalcy.

"Oh, crap! I'm out of popcorn." Benny moaned, his hands grasping at an empty bowl.

Ethan jumped to his feet, eager for some sort of distraction. "I'll get it."

"Make sure to," Ethan heard Benny’s voice stop. His voice sounding oddly far way.

"E?"

"I—" he opened his mouth only to instantly regret it. A new swarm of pain hacking away at the strings of his mind, causing him to double over in pain. Benny dropped the plastic bowl and rushed to his friend’s side, hands grabbing his shoulders to keep him from toppling to the floor.

It was possible the brunette started yelling something at Sarah, but it was drowned out by a sharp, low buzzing like an angry swarm of wasps. Another flower of agony bloomed behind his forehead, causing him to cry out helplessly.

Desperately he tried to defend himself against the shadows that had begun to form beneath his eyelids, the fire was now dancing through his veins to the awful buzzing beneath his skull. Heat blossomed in his blood stream and rammed against his nerves, filling his mind with raw pain. Every passing second seemed to increase his internal temperature by a hundred degrees. He was now fighting for his consciousness against a raging inferno in his head.

Once again time abandoned him and he was left unsure of how long the war lasted. Eventually the battle was lost, and the hands grabbing at his clothes were yanked violently away, followed by eventual silence of his friend’s.

Inky tendrils began to wrap themselves around him, dragging him back to the one place he never wanted to see again. He wanted to cry out, but the memory of how to do so had faded along with everything else. He was back to being nothing. Back to the pyre of horrid scarlet flames he had been straining so hard to forget and push to the back of his mind.

Back to Hell.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own My Babysitter's A Vampire, nor do I own the characters. This is simply a messed up figment of my imagination. I do not suggest reading this if you are sensitive on topics such as Hell, demons, pain (both mental and physical), etc.


End file.
